The Spectacular Spiderman
by It'sTimeForYouToBeEqualized
Summary: Coulson is back, and he has the Avengers searching for the one and only Spiderman. One the other side of the spectrum, a new evil is lurking in the shadows.
1. Chapter 1: Director Coulson

Chapter One: Director Coulson

 **Author's note: Well, hello there! Welcome to my Spiderman/ Avengers fanfic, with a little bit of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It takes place after the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, a year or so after the first Avengers movie, and after the Amazing Spiderman. Hope you guys like it!**

Peter swung from building to building, enjoying the rush of adrenaline as he looked over New York City. The dark night was illuminated by the bright lights of the city's buildings.  
It was another night of being Spiderman, the red and blue clad vigilante. He wouldn't give this up for the world. Or would he? Just last week, he had missed meeting Harry at the movies, due to him being out so late as Spiderman. Was it worth it?

His Spidey Sense tingled, and he jumped from the building, heading toward an alley, where he suspected a mugging was about to take place.

"I guess I'll have to ponder it while saving the citizens of New York. Spiderman, to the rescue!"

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E-_

Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist, was bored out of his genius mind.

"Star Spangled, any ideas what we're doing here?"

He directed his question to the Super Soldier sitting on his couch, flipping through a magazine.

Steve glanced up briefly at Tony, then returned to his magazine.

"No idea, Stark. Fury said he wanted us to meet someone, and so I came here like he asked. Your guess is as good as mine."

Tony Stark's personal AI, JARVIS, interrupted the conversation.

"Actually, Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark's guess is probably a bit more accurate than yours, considering he set up the meeting."

Tony glared at the ceiling, the closest he could get to scowling at the AI.

"You organised this meeting, Stark?" Natasha looked up from the barstool she was perched on, examining her freshly painted nails.

Tony glanced sheepishly at the master assassin, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, Fury reached out to me first. Did you see he ditched the eyepatch? Now I can't call him Captain Hook any more."

Steve's eyebrows wrinkle in confusion, but he waved it off.

"Let me get this straight. Stark, you organised a meeting but you have no idea who it's with?"

Another voice joined the mix as the Avenger's resident archer spoke up.

"Honestly, is anyone surprised?"

Tony looked over to where Clint Barton was stretched out on the couch, his bow and quiver within arms reach.

"Cut it out, Robin Hood."

"Who is this "Robin Hood" you speak of?" Thor's voice boomed out from the kitchen, where Bruce and Thor enjoyed a cup of coffee.

"Tony, this mystery visitor here yet?" Bruce looked exhausted, probably due to Thor overhearing him mention radio waves, and Thor insisting he learn about these "waves of radio".

A new voice added into the mix, one Tony had not heard in a long time.

"I assume I'm the mystery visitor? I would have figured that Fury would have at least told you who was coming."

Phil Coulson stepped out of the elevator, flanked by a female agent with dark hair.

The sound of glass shattering could be heard, as the glass full of beer Tony had been holding made contact with the floor.

"Coulson? But… you died! Loki killed you!" Steve stood in front of Coulson, as if he couldn't believe Phil was standing there.  
"Fury helped save me. Tahiti, it's a magical place." Coulson smiled and exchanged a glance with the agent standing next to him.

"It's great to see you again, Agent Coulson." Natasha was suddenly standing next to Tony. As usual, her footsteps were dead silent.

"Director. Director Coulson. " The agent standing behind Coulson finally spoke up. "I'm Agent Melinda May."

"After SHIELD's collapse, Nick Fury made me the head of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. No more corruption from inside. Hydra is gone from the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson explained.

"Congratulations, Son of Coul." Thor clapped his hand onto Coulson's back, throwing him forward.

"Thanks, Thor. Now, to business." He made to give a medium sized file to Tony, but remembered Tony's feeling about being handed things, and instead handed a file to Bruce, who then passed it to Tony.

"We're looking for a vigilante based out of New York City." Bruce glanced at the file over Tony's shoulder, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Spiderman." Bruce clarified for the remainder of the team.

"Spiderman? Who's Spiderman?" Captain America looked confused, looking at the pictute Natasha had Googled of the red and blue clad vigilante.

"Seriously, Spangles? Spiderman?" Tony tossed the file to Steve, who flipped through it.

"Yes, Spiderman. Even before the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, we've had our eyes on Spiderman. Now, especially, it's important to keep track of gifted individuals. Plus, he would make a great addition to the Avengers team, wouldn't you say?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. You have no idea where he is and you want us to find him."

May gave a short laugh. "He's got you pegged, Coulson."

Coulson glanced at the agent, before returning to his conversation with Tony. "Yes, we need you to find him. And fast. There's a new threat on the horizon."

The two agents made for the elevator when Tony recovered from the information dump. "What's this new threat?"  
Coulson laughed and smiled. "That, Mr. Stark, is classified."


	2. Chapter 2:An Excursion At Oscorp

Chapter Two: Excursion at Oscorp

 **Author's note: Thank you to all of those who favorited and reviewed the story!**

* * *

Dr. Bruce Banner sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Ever since Coulson had requested their help in finding Spiderman, Tony had been working nonstop.

"Bruce, what do you think of this?" Tony tossed his notebook to Dr. Banner, who glanced over the calculations.

"In theory, this would work. You still don't think that the webbing is a natural ability?", Bruce questioned. He had his doubts about chasing some random vigilante, but he held his tongue. He respected Phil and his wishes.

Tony got up from where he had been sitting at a lab table and shook his head. "The things around his wrists have to be used for something, right? And I even have footage of it. JARVIS, pull up the clip from earlier."

The AI's voice rang through the lab. "Of course, sir."

A video began playing. It was slightly shaky, suggesting that it had been taken using a cell phone camera, but the quality was still fairly good. It was probably enhanced by JARVIS's systems. Spiderman could clearly be seen shooting webs around a robber, taking his gun, and entrapping the thief's arms by his sides, before handing the gun to a nearby police officer. Bruce watched, fascinated, as the vigilante shot another web and swung off.

"Incredible", Bruce. He had heard of Spiderman before, sure, but he had never seen the vigilante in action. Even a short video clip was a testament to his skills.

"It is incredible, sure, but the most important thing to note is when Spidey hands the gun off. JARVIS, replay that part of the clip." Tony snapped his fingers at the ceiling, and the AI responded. "Anything for you, sir."

The video replayed, however, this time, the video was zoomed in and was in slow-motion. Spiderman could be seen replacing what looked like a capsule on his wrist band with another one, supplied from his tool belt.

"Okay, so you're right about the webbing. So where does that leave us?", Bruce asked.

Tony smirked and walked over to one of the tables, where he proceeded to pull up a life size hologram of Spiderman. "Aren't I always right?"

Bruce glared at Tony, who shut his mouth and returned to the hologram. "Well, despite Spidey here wearing a mask, I've been able to figure out a bit about him. He's around 5'10, at least."

Bruce walked over to the hologram, spinning it around a couple of times. Tony continued talking about the long, complicated process he had used to find Spiderman's height, but Bruce tuned it out. He had mastered that skill after becoming a friend of Tony's.

JARVIS's voice cut Tony's speech short. "Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and Mr. Odinson are heading down to the lab."

Bruce noted the lack of the super soldier in the list of names JARVIS had rattled off, and questioned Tony. "Where's Steve at?"

Tony glanced up from the video he was watching. "Capsicle? He's out on some goodwill meeting with one of the S.H.I.E.L.D scientists at some company. Osworp? Osforp? I think it was something like that."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Steve saw absolutely no reason why he was the one accompanying two S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists to a meeting at some science corporation. He thought that Bruce or Tony would be more qualified, but Coulson had asked for him specifically. Captain America was never one to turn down a request from a fan.

"Captain Rogers, the two scientists are on their way up." The artificial intelligence spoke, jolting the Captain out of his thoughts.  
"Thanks, JARVIS." Steve picked up his shield from the ground, and easily hooked it onto his back as the elevator doors opened, revealing two scientists. One was a woman with brown hair, who was talking enthusiastically to the guy, a taller man with brown hair, though it was a different shade from the woman's hair.

"Fitz, this is an amazing opportunity! We get to not only go inside Oscorp, which both of us have been dying to do, but we get to meet Captain America! We can find out all about the impact of the super soldier serum on him, how it advanced his abilit-" The woman chattered rather excitedly to the man, who elbowed her.

"Simmons," the man said quietly. She continued to chatter, until the man elbowed her again, and she promptly shut up.

"Hello. I'm Captain America, but you can call me Steve." Steve extended his hand to the woman, shaking her hand, and then repeated the action with the man.

"Oh! I'm Dr. Jemma Simmons, and this is Leopold Fitz! Since I don't think Director Coulson told you what we were doing,here's the file. " She said in a rush of breath, while handing him a thin file.

Steve flipped through it. Apparently, Hydra had stolen a piece of Oscorp tech, and Coulson wanted to give it back, to help improve S.H.I.E.L.D.'s image, and, more importantly, borrow an incredibly advanced microscope.

Making eye contact, Simmons answered the question clearly visible on Steve's face.

"This isn't exactly your skill set, but the Director wanted an Avenger, especially with a great reputation, improve our image and help us get that microscope. It would be incredibly valuable to our research.

Steve handed the file back to Simmons, noting her shaking hands. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I heard from Coulson that after the meeting, you wanted to ask me about the impact of the super soldier serum on-" Steve's sentence was cut short by a ding on his cell phone, which he had slowly and painfully learned how to use.

He glanced down at the phone before speaking. "Our ride is here. We'll have to pick this conversation up later.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

One long, and frankly boring meeting later, Cap staggered out of the meeting room. Fitz and Simmons were still in there, but they had asked him to watch over the microscope, in case the Oscorp scientists changed their mind and wanted it back.

He headed to the lobby, holding the large microscope box, getting several questioning stares due to his uniform. Not exactly the most common outfit to be worn in a scientific organization, for sure.

Steve loaded the microscope into the car, then headed back to the lobby, sitting down in a chair.

"Hey, uh, are you Steve Rogers?" It was a young man speaking, with brown hair and eyes, holding out a slip of paper. "The people who wrote this note told me to look for the guy with the shield."

"Yes, I am. Thank you." Steve skimmed the note briefly. It said that Simmons and Fitz were going to stay at Oscorp for a while longer, and Steve was free to leave. Coulson would send someone to pick up the microscope later.

"Do you want me to give them a response or something?"

Steve shook his head, folding up the note. "It's okay. Thanks again."

"Sure, no problem. Do you work here?"

Steve smiled and laughed. "No, I work….. For the government." Best way to describe, he guessed. "What about you?"

The man's face darkened, and he lost his cheerful look. "No, I could never work here. Too many memories." A smile came upon his face. "I was dropping off lunch for my girlfriend. We were supposed to meet earlier, but she ended up having a meeting going overtime."

Steve nodded. "What's she like? Your girlfriend, I mean."

"Oh, she's wonderful. She's so sweet, independent, and clever, and she supports all of my decisions, even ones she thinks are a bit crazy!" For some reason, the man went very pink at this statement.

"She sounds wonderful." Steve looked at his phone screen, which was flashing with a notification from Tony, insisting he come to the Avengers Tower right away. "I'm sorry, but I must be off now."

The man shook his hand, and gave a gentle wave. "Later!"

It wasn't until Steve was almost at the Tower when he realized he hadn't gotten the man's name.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Well, there's for a nice ending! This chapter was mainly set-up, but next chapter we'll return to our shield carrying, web slinging, hammer wielding superheroes!**

 **I will thank everyone for the reviews, but I just wanted to get this chapter up.**


	3. Chapter 3: A Coffee Chat

Chapter Three: A Coffee Chat

 **Author's note: This chapter was fun to write! As many of you guessed, the young man Steve spoke to at the end of the story was Peter. :D**

 **For any readers of my other story, Zygons and Consulting Detectives, I will not be updating for an undetermined period of time. I want to take the time to edit and clean up the story better than I have been as of late.**

 **Guess who didn't write a disclaimer? Me! So here we are: I do not own Marvel or any of their characters. *sobs***

* * *

Bruce sighed and buried his head in his hands. He simply could not take another minute of Tony attempting to figure out the vigilante's identity.

"Tony, I'm going upstairs to get some coffee." Bruce left the lab, headed toward the kitchen, fairly certain that Tony hadn't heard a single word he said.

"Dr. Banner, I regret to inform you we are out of coffee." Tony's personal AI informed him. "Mr. Stark's latest fascination with Spiderman has led to a depletion of coffee in the Avengers tower. I have ordered some more, but it will not be here until tomorrow."

Bruce shrugged. "Thanks anyway, JARVIS." If Bruce really going to be honest with himself, the coffee had only been an excuse to leave the lab.

"Might I suggest the coffee place down the street? Agent Barton and Romanhoff have shown a certain fondness for it."

"Yeah, I might just do that." Bruce figured he deserved a break, and he could use the fresh air.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Twenty minutes later, Bruce was sipping a mocha latte. He wasn't exactly sure what was really in it, and Tony always teased him about it, but he liked it anyway.

Holding his cup of coffee, he made to return to the Avengers tower, but a familiar face, drinking a cup of tea, caught his eye.

"Steve? I thought you were still at your meeting?" The super soldier downed his cup of tea, a baseball cap pulled over his eyes.

"Yeah, it finished early. Have a seat, Dr. Banner." Captain gestured for Bruce to sit down.

Bruce shook his head. "Thanks, Steve, but I'm heading back to the tower. Got to help Tony find Spiderman."

"How is that going?"

"Not very well," Bruce admitted, as he sat in the chair. He figured this discussion was going to take a while. "Tony is really trying, but it's more work than we predicted."

"Got any specs on him yet?" Steve asked, as he placed his empty cup on the table.

Bruce nodded. "Spiderman is young, due to his athleticism and, to a lesser extent, his maturity. He's around 5'10 and his web shooters aren't organic. As soon as Tony can get his hands on some of Spiderman's webs, we'll be even farther along."

"It might be my lack of ability in terms of finding people, but isn't that pretty far?" Steve asked.

Bruce glanced over his shoulder, before he picked up the conversation, in a significantly lower voice. "I'm currently working on triangulating his location, but that's exactly it. Tony and I have had a couple of days, max, to figure this out. Coulson's files are filled with information. He's probably had eyes on Spiderman for a while. Now, that begs the question: Why did Coulson bring this mission to us, when he's perfectly capable of doing it himself?"  
"Because Coulson is devoting all of his resources onto something else." Standing in what had been empty space seconds ago, was Tony Stark.

"Devoting his resources to what, exactly?" Steve wondered.

Tony smirked. "That's classified, Capsicle."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Peter shot another web, sending him flying across the New York skyline. It was moments like these that made every single part of being Spiderman worth it. The simple fact that he was able to save people's lives was worth every single late night, and every single missed movie.

Now, he perched on top of a building, his eyes glancing over the city, looking for the next mugger, or burglar, when his Spidey-Sense started acting up. Peter whirled around, just missing an arrow sent his way.  
On the other side of the rooftop, was a man dressed in all black, holding a bow and arrow.

Peter shot a web at the man, but the man ducked underneath the web, and silently drew back another arrow.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight you." The man lowered his bow,

"Are you absolutely sure about that, Robin Hood?!" Peter exclaimed as he shot another web at the man, who avoided the web with the same precision and skill he had used to avoid the last one. Peter hadn't faced anyone with this kind of skill before, and it unnerved him. Who had he run afoul of?

"Actually, the name is Hawkeye", the man corrected. "I'm here to talk to you."

"And how does shooting an arrow at someone equate to wanting to talk to them?" Peter questioned. He might as well get some information from this man before Peter got the heck out of here. For some reason, he had heard of the name Hawkeye.

"Eh, it was the first way I thought of to get your attention", the man admitted. "Tasha thought it wasn't a good idea, but it worked, didn't it?"

Peter shrugged, glancing around the rooftop, his Spidey Sense activated. However, he couldn't see what had activated it. "I guess it did…. Wait. Tasha? Who's that?"

A knife, held carefully against his costumed neck, gave him his answer.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Coulson flipped through the files angrily, searching for an answer.

"Director, I'm sorry, but I haven't been able to find a file like the one you mentioned, at all. The only one with any sort of similarity is this one, and we both know that's not what you're looking for." Simmons held out a slightly crumpled manilla folder, which Coulson accepted. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been the one to nearly destroy this folder in an angry rage last night.

"Thank you, Simmons. I know you're really trying, and that this is stressing out the team, but we need to find this information somehow."

"And you're sure you don't want to tell Stark? We could really use his help on this", Simmons pointed out.

Coulson shook his head. "No, I'm absolutely sure. He's definitely suspicious already, and I can't afford to confirm what he already believes to be true. Keeping him looking for Spiderman will distract him for long enough."

"I'm sure Skye was able to get something! Right, Skye?" Simmons reassured him, before turning to the other agent.

"Cheer up, D.C. We have do have some good news." Skye confirmed, before handing him Skye's tablet.

"I was able to get and analyze some video footage, and we have a grasp of her abilities. I believe the technical term for it is cryokinetic abilities."

* * *

 **Author's note**

 **Thanks to all of the followers and reviewers!**

 **If there's a response to the same person twice, it's because they wrote two reviews, and I'm just responding in order.**

 **Guest: Coulson can be the worst sometimes, I know! XD**

 **Phoebe: You've got some great ideas! Stick around to see what happens to our favourite web-slinging vigilante!**

 **Guest of Honor: I'll be sure to! S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue to rear it's head in following chapters.**

 **Batman111893: Peter's mask will pose a problem to our Science Bros.**

 **AliciaRoseFantasy: Thank you! Glad you're sticking around!**

 **NoOneKnowsThisAboutMe: :) Thank you very much!**

 **I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover: You're right, it was a little short, but hopefully it was worth the read!**

 **Spiderman1fan: I'm very happy you like it!**

 **Guest of Honor: Poor Steve had no idea he just found Spidey!**

 **Guest: Midnight is the best time to read fanfiction, for sure :)**

 **AliciaRoseFantasy: *high fives you* Glad you like it! Maybe! Who else do we know with a bit of a stigma against Oscorp, a girlfriend who works at Oscorp, brown hair and eyes, and a slightly wild excursions?**

 **NoOneKnowsThisAboutMe::) How'd you know? It was our favourite web slinger, meeting Captain America.**

 **I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover: Thank you! Yes, Peter is high school age around here.**

 **Spiderman1fan: I'm glad you like it!**


	4. Chapter 4: Saved By The Devil

Chapter Four: Saved By The Devil

 **Author's note:**

 **This chapter features a surprise cameo! Hope you guys like it :)**

* * *

"Well, I was robbed." Tony announced loudly, as he strode into the Avenger gym. He took a quick glance around, noting the lack of their resident Asgardian, as well as Bruce.

Steve was going at a punching bag, nearly ripping the seams open. Clint was blindfolded, shooting arrows at a variety of targets on one side of the room. Natasha was bent over backwards, before performing a series of gymnastic stunts.

"Robbed? Who robbed you?" Steve asked, as he unwrapped his hands.

"No idea. Couple minutes ago, Coulson sent me a message saying someone broke into one of my dad's old warehouses." Tony shrugged, noting the brief flash of pain on Steve's face when he mentioned his dear old dad.

"What was in the warehouse?" This question came from the archer, who nailed seven bulls eye, all in a row. Tony glanced at his face, and was unsurprised to see he was still wearing the blindfold.

Tony glanced at his phone, scrolling through the files. "Metals, I think. Oh, and apparently he found some element, which he stuck in there. Gravitonium? What the hell is that?"

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Peter took a deep breath in, trying to not was very aware of a knife being held to his neck.

A female voice cut his train of thought short. "Hi there, Spidey. Now, you are going to cooperate. I just need some basic information."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Peter could not see a good way out of this situation. There was a knife at his throat, and Hawkeye had strung another arrow, pointed directly at his heart.  
"I'm the Black Widow. Stop wiggling, or I'll slit your throat", she said, tightening her grip on her knife.

Hawkeye lowered the bow, before striding across the rooftop to where Peter was. Actually, looking around, Peter hadn't even realised where he was. He'd gone farther into the city then he had originally planned. Was he in Hell's Kitchen? Aunt May hadn't been kidding when she said this was a bad place.

"Tasha, don't kill the guy. We're just supposed to bring him in." Hawkeye pointed out, gesturing to the knife.

"Fine." The Black Widow begrudgingly released her hold on Peter, stepping over to where Hawkeye was standing.

"What do you guys want with me? I'm just your friendly, neighborhood Spiderman!" Peter stammered, taking a step away from the Black Widow, who still had her knife out. "Wait. Hawkeye? Black Widow? You guys are part of the Avengers! Dude, you're supposed to be the good guys! Why are you trying to kill me?!"

Hawkeye glared at the Black Widow. "That wasn't the mission. We just want to bring you in and talk to you."

"Bring me in where?" Peter was honestly very aggravated by now. He had a very important science test tomorrow, and these two assassins were trying to kill him! Would that be a good enough excuse to not turn his English essay? Something told him his teachers wouldn't be convinced.  
"Listen, Spiderman, we just want to make sure you aren't a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D. That's all."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? Oh, no way on Earth. I might not be some fancy government agent or a master assassin, but I do have enough common sense to watch the television. S.H.I.E.L.D. is part of Hydra! Which is evil! In case you weren't aware, I try and avoid that!"

Hawkeye glared at the Black Widow. "See, this is why I said we shouldn't start with that. Doesn't make a good impression with people.

"That's why I didn't start with it." The Black Widow shrugged and tucked her knife into her belt, pulling out a pair of fighting batons. "Spiderman, I will let you know that taking you in consciousness is not a requirement."  
"Natasha! Cut it out!" Hawkeye exclaimed, pushing down her batons. "We don't need to antagonise him!"

While the two argued, Peter backed closer and closer, toward the edge of the roof. If he could shoot a web to the building across the street, he could escape from these crazy master assassins.

When he took a second to glance over his shoulder, gauging the distance to the next rooftop, when an arrow flew by his head, nearly missing his shoulder.

"Don't go anywhere, Spiderman", Hawkeye warned, as he pointed another arrow straight at Peter's face. Peter immediately put his hands up, before swiftly ducking down and shooting a web straight into the archer's face.

Hawkeye grabbed at his face, trying, and failing, to remove the webbing that was impairing his vision.

Natasha charged at him, batons at the ready, but Peter was prepared this time for her. Relying on his Spidey-Sense, he ducked her attacks and shot webs at her, trying to disarm her.

"You can't defeat me. Stop trying," Natasha hissed as she attempted to punch him in the face.

Peter fell to the floor, ducking away from her knife, which was dangerously close to Peter's abdomen.

"You're right. He can't defeat you. Me, on the other hand? You'll find that I'll have a much easier time." A new, calm voice could be heard from behind the Black Widow, where a man stood, dressed in red and black, with a mask covering his face, complete with small horns. He was carrying a pair red sticks, which he held out in front of him. "Two on one isn't really a fair fight, but I guess being a master assassins and having a strong moral compass doesn't really work out, does it?

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen rears his head." Hawkeye commented. He could see now, having removed and discarded the webbing. He strung another arrow without glancing away from the man.

"Who are you? Is he with you guys?" Peter blurted out, his head spinning.  
Natasha stepped away from Peter, turning toward the man. "No, this here is Daredevil. Hell's Kitchen's own personal superhero."

The man chuckled, advancing on the duo, "I guess you could say that. Now, Spiderman, get the hell out of here. I'll take care of these two."

Peter nodded, shooting a web across the street as he jumped off the building. He perched on the next rooftop, watching the man fight the two assassins. He appeared to have a very good handle on it, managing to block both sets of attacks without fail.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen, huh. Looks like I owe him a favor." Peter noted, as he swung off into the night. He'd be more careful tomorrow, and watch for prowling S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Coulson gaped, open mouthed, at the scene before him.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Simmons asked, as she walked over, carefully making some notes on her clipboard.

Coulson shook his head. "I don't think incredibile is the word for it. More like frightening. Now, who wants to tell Stark he was robbed?"

* * *

 **Author's note: Can you guys guess what our mysterious thief took? :D**


	5. Chapter 5: Just Frosty

Chapter Five: Just Frosty

* * *

Clint pulled back his bow, his fingers curled around the string.

"Feathers, he's headed your way!" Tony's voice rang out incredibly loudly, over the team's comm. In the background, the sound of Cap's shield ricocheting on the wall, until the Captain himself could be visible from where Clint was perching on a ledge. Clint was rather comfortable, his legs were tucked underneath him, not unlike a bird.

"Tony, there is absolutely no reason to scream. Remember, the comm's sound goes directly into my hearing aids." Clint muttered. His arrow shot through the air, directly into one of the Hydra agent's side. The man doubled over, giving Steve the time he needed to hit the man with his shield, knocking him out.

"It's all clear down here." Steve reported, as he grabbed his shield, heading toward the door. "Hawkeye, you coming?"  
"Yeah, I'm coming. Just give me a minute." Clint jumped from the ledge, glancing around. "Anyone feel like this was too easy? Where's the rest of them?"

Natasha walked through the door, her gun at the ready. "Clint is right. Why are there so few people here? How do you run a base with only ten people?"  
Steve frowned, his shield glinting in the harsh ceiling light. "There were only ten people? I didn't notice."  
Clint chuckled as he threw open the door, heading toward the storage rooms for the base. "Yeah, I counted. You were too busy auditioning for the frisbee Olympics to notice. I'll check these rooms out, then I'll head back up."

The Captain held out a hand to halt him. "Clint, wait. I'll come with you."

The duo headed toward the storage rooms, arrow and shield at the ready.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

"Peter! Are you listening to me?!" Gwen Stacy shook him, nearly upsetting the table and their two coffees.

"..Uh, what?" Peter shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, Gwen. I was out kind of late last night."

"What were you doing? Are you okay?" Gwen asked, concern clearly visible in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Gwen. I'm fine. Promise." Peter took a sip of his latte, glancing around the coffee shop. Gwen might tease him for being a classic teenage girl, but nothing was better than a caramel latte to help him recover from a late night on the streets. "What were you saying?"  
Gwen sighed impatiently, before repeating herself. "I said, have you applied for any internships?"

"Internships?" Peter asked, confusion visible on his face.

"Peter, they've talked about this all week! You need to apply for an internship at some company around here. Since I figured how unprepared you would be, I brought some flyers for you." Gwen handed Peter several sheets of paper, which he proceeded to glance over.

"You know me too well." Peter smiled as he read through the fliers. They were all science based, and Peter knew Gwen had looked hard for him. None of them seemed exactly where he wanted to intern, until he reached the last one. "Oh, I think this one will probably be a good fit."

Gwen leaned over his arm, looking at the flier he had selected. "Where do you want to go?"

Peter grinned as he held up the flier for her to see. "Stark Industries."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Tony ran his hand through his hair, the faceplate of the Iron Man suit removed. "I don't know about you guys, but while Legolas and Capsicle check out the storage rooms, I'm heading to one of my warehouses."

Thor nodded, swinging his hammer around his wrist. "Tread carefully, Man of Iron.

Tony laughed as he took off. "I'm always careful, Point Break."

It was about five minutes later when Tony touched down at the old warehouse.

"Coulson, always a pleasure to see you!" Tony clapped the Director on the back, sending Coulson forward a foot.

"Stark, I wish I could say the same. Why don't you come inside, and my team will show you how far we've gotten on the investigation." Coulson smiled and gestured to the warehouse door.

Tony frowned, as the Iron Man Suit retracted, transforming into a briefcase leaving him standing in a black suit. "Why are you here, Director? Sure, I am pretty important, and I always appreciate your company, but to come and investigate an offhand robbery at my warehouse seems a little below your pay grade."

Coulson was still smiling, but it seemed more like a nervous grin then anything else.

"Sure, but you'll find this is a little more than your average robbery. It's a bit more….. Icy, for lack of a better term."

"Icy? Like, it'll freeze my heart over to see the damage done to dear old dad's warehouse?" Tony joked, though he couldn't dispel a horrible feeling, which had appeared in the pit of his stomach.

By now, Coulson's smile was long gone. He opened the door, allowing Tony to enter before him.

"See, Stark, you'll find that this "frosty" situation is a little less than funny." Coulson gestured to the warehouse wall, which was covered in a giant sheet of ice. There was a body trapped in the ice, his face frozen in a permanent scream.

"What the hell is this!?" Tony ran over to the sheet of ice, touching it with his fingertips. It was real, Tony could tell, by the sheer temperature of the ice.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out. Statistically speaking, it's is just a large amount ice scaling your wall." It was one of Coulson's team speaking, a woman with brown hair. "Sir, do we have clearance to bring in the rest of the team?"

Coulson nodded to the woman. "Yes, bring them in. Once you introduce them to Stark, feel free to try and find the culprit." He turned back toward Tony, who was still gazing at the ice wall. "That's Dr. Jemma Simmons. She and the rest of my team have-"

Tony barely registered what Coulson was saying. He was too focused on the ice. How had this happened?

Coulson was still talking, but Tony had filtered his voice into the background. "- we think we might be able to pinpoint the location of the gifted person who created this-"

"Wait, you just said you might be able to locate this person? And how do you know it's a person causing this?" Tony blurted out in a rush, as his gaze drifted over the body. He knew that man. How could he have let this happen? This was his warehouse. He should have been more responsible.

A hand reached out, wearing a black fingerless glove. The hand gently held his arm, supporting Tony. "Take a deep breath."

Tony jerked his hand away, glancing at his arm. There was a small needle, injecting something into his bloodstream. "What the hell is this?"

JARVIS piped up over Tony's comm, which he had forgotten was still in his ear.

"Sir, it appears you have been injected with a sedation. It will fully knock you out in about two minutes."

The woman, the one with the gloves, who had injected him, was looking at him. Concern was apparent in her dark eyes, which were visible under her bangs. "Relax, and it will be over soon."

"Huh-what?! Who are you?" Tony stammered out, his vision fading, as he began to collapse.

"Skye! What did you do?!" Coulson's panicked voice could be heard in the background. Huh, Tony didn't know that Coulson cared so much about him.

"I sedated him. He'll be fine." It was the woman speaking, her voice calm and soothing. "Just take a deep breath, Mr. Stark."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Peter nervously fidgeted with his tie, before pushing his glasses up on his nose.

His interview at Stark Industries would be commencing momentarily, and he was very nervous. He had a good shot at getting this internship, but that didn't dispel the fear in him. Aunt May had forced him to wear a suit, claiming "it was important to always look your best". At home, he had complained, but now, looking at the other students in the waiting room, all of them decked out in fancy suits and formal wear, he felt reassured about his outfit.

"Peter Parker?" A woman with shoulder length dark hair, a ridiculously long scarf, a blue shirt, and a pair of black pants, was waiting at the door of the lobby area.

"Uh, yeah, that's me." Peter stammered.

"My name is Cass Selwyn. If you'd please follow me, I'll take you to the interview room." She briefly shook hands with Peter, before heading out of the lobby, her scarf nearly trailing on the floor.

Peter followed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed her. She led him through security, where he received a name tag, and into an elevator.

"We'll be heading to level 34, where Ms. Potts will interview you. If you're lucky, Mr. Stark will pass through. However, most days he's simply too busy, being Iron Man, and everything." She was friendly, her demeanor relaxing to Peter, who was scared out of his wits.

"Yeah, thanks." Peter replied, as the elevator's door opened. Cass lead him to the end of the hallway, where the nameplate read _Pepper Potts_.

Cass smiled, opening the door for him. "Good luck, Mr. Parker."

Peter headed into the room, his nervousness only growing. The office was large, but his attention was drawn to the large desk in the center of the room, where a blonde woman was glancing over several sheets of paper.

"Oh, hello. Peter Parker, right? Please, take a seat." The woman gestured to the chair across from her, where Peter sat down.

The woman shook hands with Peter, before introducing herself. "My name is Pepper Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries, and I'll be interviewing you for our internship program here. I see you applied to our science division. Please talk to me about why we should allow you to join us here at Stark Enterprises. "

Peter nodded, his hand automatically reaching to his sleeve and messing with the buttons. "Yes, ma'am. I personally love science, and I believed I would be able to advance my scientific studies here."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

The rest of the interview continued in a similar manner, with Peter answering her questions as well as he could.

Pepper glanced down at the papers in her hands, before laying them down on the table. "I believe that will be it, Peter. Thank you so much for coming by. You should be receiving a letter in the mail soon, informing you of the result of our interview.

"Thank you for your time." With that, Peter made to leave the interview room, when Pepper spoke up again.

"Peter, according to my records, Oscorp offered you a paid internship, but you declined. Is there any reason why?"

Peter's face went dark, and he kicked at the carpet. "Not really…. I just didn't feel right there.

Pepper nodded. "That will be all, Mr. Parker. Have a good day."

As Peter left the room, Pepper picked up her cell phone, dialing Tony's number. "Tony, I think you may have been right. Oh, Steve is going to be so annoyed that you've been keeping tabs on his conversations."

Tony chuckled, his voice light and airy. "Aren't I always, Pep? Capsicle will be fine. We'll just withhold that information for a bit. So tell me, where does our darling neighborhood Spiderman live?"

* * *

 **Author's note: It wasn't totally clear, sorry, when Peter's interview occurred. Writing fault, sorry. Just for your information, Peter's interview happened before the Avenger mission during the beginning of this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: Out Like A Light

Chapter Six: Out Like A Light

 **Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to my friend, High-Functioning Psychopath, who contributed greatly to this story, as well as suggesting I use the name for one of my important characters. Thanks, Peri!**

 **I'm very sorry this chapter took so long to publish. I've had a lot school work lately! :(**

* * *

Clint Barton froze, drawing back his bow, an arrow at the ready. By the looks of it, Steve had heard the same sound. The Captain had his shield at the ready, his eyes glancing around the room. This was the last, and largest of the storage rooms they had looked through so far, and they had found nothing yet.

Clint tilted his head to the side, listening to the sound of footsteps. "Cap, I think we've got company."

"You're right, someone's coming." Steve raised his shield, turning toward the door.

"Relax, it's just me." Natasha walked into the room, tucking her batons into her belt. "I left Thor upstairs, keeping watch on the big guy, and Tony had to leave. Something about him being robbed. Anyway, what are you two doing down here?"

Steve visibly relaxed, lowering his shield. "Just checking out these storage rooms. There weren't a whole lot of Hydra agents out there, and we'd like to know why."

Natasha nodded, her red hair glowing in the ceiling lights. "I noticed that too, but maybe this base is just not as important."

The Captain shrugged, as he hoisted his shield, heading for the door. "I'll go check out the rest of the floor. Save time, you know? I'll meet you back upstairs."

With that, Steve left, leaving the duo to inspect the room.

Clint kept his arrow at the ready as he checked out the room. "Tasha, something isn't right. I keep hearing footsteps, except neither of us are moving."

Natasha nodded, glancing up at the ceiling. Clint followed her gaze to the ventilation shaft cover, which was vibrating slightly, as if someone was perched on top of it and was trying to open it. "Clint, move, right now!"

Natasha tackled Clint, pushing him out of the way, but leaving herself right underneath it.

A girl neatly fell to the ground, a few feet away from Natasha,, landing in what one mercenary was fond of calling "the Superhero Landing." Clint could easily tell the girl couldn't be older than seventeen. Her dark hair was unraveling from the braid it was in, nearly covering her grey eyes. She seemed to be wearing fairly regular clothing, other than her long, navy blue coat, and a set of black fingerless gloves. They were lined with something silver.

Probably some sort of metal, Clint assumed.

The girl stood up from where she had been crouched, her back toward Clint. The ceiling light hit her gloves, lighting the trim up with an unusual sparkle. From his hiding spot in the back of the room, Clint could tell this girl had been through a lot. She had several rips in her coat, and her pants were worn on the knees, but her gloves looked like new.

Clint took a deep breath as he realized why the metal looked so familiar. It looked like it was the same material Steve's shield was made out of. How, and more importantly, why had she attached the metal to her gloves?

Natasha was the first to recover, pointing her gun at the girl. "Put your hands up. Now."

Nat glanced past the girl, making eye contact with Clint, giving him a look that said " _Stay hidden."_

The girl slowly put her hands up, moving slowly toward Natasha. "Easy does it, love."

Natasha kept her gun pointed up, slowly moving closer to the girl.

Nat ducked, as the girl put her hands up in an offensive measure, generating what looked like ice out of her hands.

Clint ducked down behind a set of crates, hiding himself from view, debating whether or not he should shoot an arrow. He decided against it, as there was no way he could definitely hit the other girl without injuring Natasha, with the two of them fighting like this.

The girl jumped forward, connecting the palm of her hand with Natasha's side. Ice splintered from the point of impact, an icy pattern appearing on the assassin's dark outfit. Clint could see Natasha's blood leaking onto her jacket, the dark red obvious against the black leather.

Natasha took it surprisingly well, blocking the girl's next punch, before another icy jab knocked her to the ground. The dark haired girl grabbed a metal tray off the shelf, hitting Natasha on the head with it, causing assassin stopped moving. Satisfied, the girl left through the doorway, glancing back at Nat's body as she left.

Clint watched as the girl left, waiting a full minute to make sure she was gone, before running toward Natasha's body.

"Natasha! Wake up!" Clint exclaimed, as he shook the assassin. He quickly took her pulse, sighing in relief as he felt it. It was weak, but she was alive.

Clint activated his comm, shouting an order into it. "I need backup, right now! Natasha is down, and there's someone else here. Watch out, she has some sort of ice powers."

Thor's voice quickly responded over the comm, the concern clear in the Asgardian's voice. "Banner and I will take care of it. You get the lady to safety, Hawk Man."

Clint laughed humorlessly. "She wouldn't like you saying she can't handle herself."

"He's not wrong, Thor." Natasha was sitting up, her hand touching her head, rubbing the side of her head. "Hey, Clint. You okay?"

Clint helped her up, supporting most of her weight. "Are you okay? Take a minute if you need it. Thor and the Hulk are finding the girl."

Natasha winced in pain as they moved toward the doorway. "I'll be okay." Nat stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening. "Clint, where's Steve?"  
It was at that moment that a scream could be heard through all of the Hydra base. The scream of a super soldier in pain, immeasurable pain..

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Tony awoke with a start, falling off a small bed, and hitting his head on the floor.

Coulson was sitting in a chair, next to the bed. "I'd wait for a second, if I were you. Skye injected you with a fairly strong sedative."

Tony groaned as he stood up, before falling back down onto the bed. "Ugh, why did she do that?"

Coulson shrugged, before offering Tony a hand up. "You were about to collapse. It was for your own good."

Tony gladly took the offered hand, as he slowly stood up, noting the lack of his metal suit.. "Where's my suit?"  
Coulson gestured to the door, but didn't get up from his seat. "It's in the next room. First, I want to talk to you about the man in the ice."

"Straight to the point, aren't you, Coulson?"

Coulson smiled, but quickly returned to business. "Aren't I always, Stark? Anyway, courtesy of our files, that man was maintenance man for Stark Industries. Arthur Davis?"

Tony swallowed uncomfortably, tapping his foot on the floor. "Yeah, that was him. He used to work for me as a programmer, and was incredible at it, but suddenly applied for a job change bout three months back. That was some time ago, I think. I thought it was pretty strange and all, since he was so gifted at programming."

A frown came upon Coulson's face, as he flipped through a file. "I find that very interesting, Stark, since from what I'm reading here, Davis has been working in your maintenance department for three years."

"What? That can't be possible! I spoke to him this morning and everything."

"What about?" Coulson asked, as he scribbled something down in a notebook.

"I think he left a file or something in his offic-"

A cell phone rang, interrupting Tony's sentence.

Phil gave Tony an apologetic smile, before answering the call, speaking briskly into the phone.

"Director Coulson here. What's the issue? I'm in a middle of a meetin-"

The voice on the other end of the phone line was shouting incredibly loud, so loudly that Tony could clearly hear what they were saying.

"Director Coulson, Agent Star. We have a Code 394! One of the Avengers is down!"

Within a second, both Coulson and Tony were on their feet and out the door.

Tony blurted out a quick sentence as he threw open the adjacent room's door. "I'll get my suit and meet you there."

Coulson nodded, heading toward what Tony assumed was the runway. "Go, get there as fast as you can. I'll bring my team there." Returning to his phone call, Coulson practically ran to the runway. "Which Avenger is down? What happened?"

The voice on the phone hesitated briefly before continuing. "It's….. It's Captain America, sir."

* * *

 **Author's note: Hope you guys liked that chapter! My apologies for it being so late, I've just had a ton of work recently.**


	7. Chapter 7: Frozone

Chapter Seven: Frozone

 **Author's note: Here's a Peter-centric chapter, to make up for the lack of the web slinger in the last chapter.**

* * *

Peter glanced at his computer screen, looking through the latest news articles. Nothing very interesting or Spiderman worthy, he thought to himself, as he scrolled past a news article about a robbery from a Stark warehouse. Peter sighed, running his hands through his hair. He had been so stressed and nervous lately, he hadn't gone out as Spiderman.

Maybe it was time to correct that error.

About ten minutes later, Peter was perched on the top of the Oscorp building, fully disguised in his Spiderman costume. It didn't usually take him this long to swing here, but he had to stop two robberies on the way, but all he had needed to take them down had been his handy dandy web shooters.

"Bad guys, come out come out wherever you are!" Peter chuckled, his eyes searching the horizon for anything suspicious.

A girl in one of the alleys caught his attention. She was wearing a dark blue coat, which was strange enough, considering the warm temperature outside, but that wasn't even the weirdest part. The coat was stained, a dark red covering the bottom half of the trench coat, accompanied by several rips, and what looked suspiciously like an arrowhead shaped piece missing at the edge.

Peter hummed a tune as he jumped, shooting several webs across the New York skyline, until he finally reached her. "Hey, do you need some help? You look like you've….been through a lot."

The girl whipped around, holding one of her gloved hands out threateningly. "Stay back."

The blue and red clad vigilante shrugged, holding his hands up in a non-threatening way. "I'm just here to help. You know, your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!"

She relaxed a bit, lowering her hand, but leaving it up. "Oh. You're that one who shoots webs, right?"

Peter grinned, though it was cloaked by his mask. "That would be me! You know, I always love it when someone recognizes me!"

Despite the horrible condition the girl seemed to be in, she smiled, her dark hair falling out of her eyes. "You're much funnier in person, you know? I liked it especially when you crack a joke when defeating the villain."

"That's my favorite part, too!" Peter was actually kind of enjoying himself now. Sure, maybe this girl needed help, but for five minutes, Peter felt happy, joking with some random girl.

"Well, you seem to know who I am, but who are you?" Peter asked, as he extended his right hand for her to shake.

The girl hesitated, before reluctantly shaking his hand with her own gloved one, her ice blue nails visible. She offered the information hesitantly, her eyes glancing around the Peter, searching the alley for anyone who might be spying on them."You can call me Trey. Though they tend to call me the Renegade."

Peter shook her hand, frowning as he tried to remember where he had heard that name before, recalling a conversation about a year back.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

 _It had been yet another rough day interning at the the Daily Bugle. Peter would quit only a week later, but he had liked the place, he just couldn't handle the workload._

 _That day, J. Jameson had thrown a cup of coffee at one of the freelance photographers, claiming "he didn't want a picture of any one other than Spiderman, even if they were some ice-hurling freak."_

 _Peter hurried over to the photographer, helping her up from the ground. "Ella, are you okay?"_

 _The photographer had taken his offered hand thankfully, as she picked up her items._

" _Oh, I'm fine. He didn't mean it, he's just being short tempered. As usual."_

 _Peter chatted with her as he helped her gather her things, and walked with her to the door. "What was he saying about an "ice hurling freak"? It sounds interesting."_

 _Ella shrugged, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "I guess, if you're into that sort of thing. I was just looking at some CCTV that some intern thought was a little suspicious. I checked it out, and a whole section of the tape had been erased. I managed to find the original, I think some government organization deleted some of it, but all that was on it was some powered person. She called herself the Renegade. "_

 _Peter's eyebrows went up as he glanced at the picture Ella had offered. A girl with short, dark hair was blasting several men with ice generated straight out of her hands. "Wow, incredible powers!"_

 _Ella smiled at Peter's excitement. "Here, you want to keep the picture? Jameson isn't interested, so it's of no use to me. Plus, I had 0 luck trying to find her. Wonder if she has an invisibility cloak or something. "_

 _Peter gratefully accepted the several pictures. "Thanks, Ella! I'll hold onto this."_

" _Good luck finding your powered person, Peter. Be careful, and remember, she's the Renegade. She shoots to kill. "_

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

"Spiderman? Are you alright?"

The girl touched his shoulder, her cold fingers brushing over the metal webbing on his outfit.

Peter shook his head, pulling himself out of his flashback. "No, I'm fine. Renegade, you said? Unique name."

She smiled, laughing softly. "Everyone thinks it's crazy, when I first tell them. It'll grow on you. You should have seen the look Cap-this guy gave me when I told him."

Peter could feel his heart rate increasing, and he glanced around suspiciously. His Spidey-Sense was practically exploding.

Trey made eye contact with him, fear visible in her grey eyes. "Did you hear something?"

A quinjet was landing on the neighboring building. Several people were moving out of the jet, in military style precision.

A woman walked toward the two of them, her gun pointed at the girl. "Stay where you are, or I'll shoot." A bird emblem was visible on the shoulder of her uniform. Peter got the sense he was supposed to remember the logo, but he simply couldn't recall it.

Trey cursed under her breath, her eyes searching the alley for some form of escape. "It's S.H.I.E.L.D. They're onto me."

Peter frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. "They're after you? Why?"

"Not important. Listen, I'm sorry about this." Trey shoved Peter, his webs not moving fast enough to stop her as he fell into the agent, the two of them ending up the floor.

A layer of ice settled over his body, before several icicles sprung up around him, one nearly stabbing his body.

Everything went dark, as a hazy image of the girl running away disappeared from his line of sight.

Peter groaned, massaging his scalp. He'd been out for at least ten minutes, he presumed, and some of the agents seemed to be recovering. Surprising, since even with his Spidey-Sense, he hadn't had enough time to fully duck out of the way, and had received a significant amount of the ice to his head. The agents had probably gotten it worse, as they lacked his all important Spidey-Sense.

Peter glanced to his left side, where the dark haired agent from before was. She seemed fairly okay, but had a minor wound from one of the icicles on her left arm.

"You know, have you guys ever seen the Incredibles?"

The agent glanced over, her eyes narrowing. "What?"

"You know, the Incredibles? The superhero family? Well, that girl reminds me of Frozone."

"Who?" Peter just seemed to be confusing the agent even more, as she continued to glare daggers at him. He shrugged, offhandedly putting his hands up. "I'm just saying, maybe she should change her name from the Renegade to Frozone."

The sound of engines whirring behind Peter, caused him to glance over his shoulder, his webs at the ready.

Ironman landed in the alley, his suit already dismantling itself.

"Frozone. You know, I like that, kid."

 **Author's note:**

 **Was this too much Peter for one chapter? Anyway, we'll find out what happens to Cap in the next chapter, which will be titled** " _ **The Death Of A Star".**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Death of a Star, Part 1

Chapter Eight: The Death of a Star, Part One

* * *

Cap headed down the hallway, mentally counting the number of rooms, before heading into the first one. Tony's scan upon arrival had confirmed the lack of heat signatures in the storage rooms, but it couldn't hurt to check.

As Cap searched, he noticed the temperature was rapidly dropping. Not only that, the comms were suspiciously quiet. Steve could hear Thor chatting with Bruce, but there was silence from the assassin duo.

"Hawkeye, Natasha, status report." Steve barked the command, his uneasiness growing with every second. The temperature in the storage room continued to fall, and he shivered, despite his warm outfit. Something must be going wrong with the heating in the building.

"Hawkeye? Nat? Do you read me?" Steve repeated over the comm.

"Steve, Bruce here. Are Natasha and Barton not responding?" Bruce asked, his voice echoing in Cap's ears. It took Steve a minute to respond, the cold was really getting to him. His vision wavered, and he felt uneasy, memories of being frozen alive running through his head.

Steve shook his head, attempting to clear his mind. "No, they're not. Did they say they were going to turn off their comms?"

The scientist responded immediately. "Let me ask Thor. Until a few minutes ago, it was the Other Guy…. taking care of business."

Steve could hear the two talking, the Asgardian's loud voice an interesting comparison to the mild mannered scientist, before Bruce returned to the comm.

"According to Thor, the two turned off their comms so they could investigate the rooms without alerting the person inside."

Bruce had confirmed Steve's worst suspicions. However, he had to be absolutely sure.

"Person inside? There was someone inside the rooms? A Hydra agent?"

Bruce spoke quickly to Thor, before he responded over the comm. "Nat was suspicious, even though you and Clint were already investigating. Something about a lack of Hydra agents in a base. She went in to investigate."  
Steve sighed, as he returned to his investigation. "She didn't tell me that."

"And you're surprised?" Bruce sounded amused, the light heartedness in his tone rather unusual for the incredibly serious scientist.

"Not at all." Steve chuckled, acknowledging the former assassin's secretive nature. "Here, I'll finish this room, then head back to give them some support, in case they need back up, though I bet they'll be fine."

"Sounds good. Rogers, be careful."

Steve smiled as he surveyed the room. "Doesn't really come with the job, you know?"

Steve whistled a dance tune as he searched. He wouldn't admit it to Tony, but he had asked JARVIS to create a playlist with some of his favourite songs, mainly old dance tunes Steve had listened to with Bucky.

One day, after a long day "Avenging", Steve had turned the playlist on, hoping to unwind.

It hadn't work. He had started crying, the memories of what he had lost, from his girlfriend Peggy, to his friend and associate Howard Stark.

70 years ago, he would have been doing this, helping save people, except with the Howling Commandos, his old friends, at his side.

"Snap out of it, Steve. You don't have time for this." He muttered to himself, wiping away the teasr that had started to form.

70 years ago, he would have been doing this, helping save people, except with the Howling Commandos at his side.

"I'm sorry, Captain. You're more accurate then you realize." A voice came out of the blue, from behind him.

Steve whirled around, his shield at the ready.

In the doorway, there stood a dark haired girl, her hands raised in an offensive position.

He tossed his shield at her, but she ducked, rolling forward, her fingertips brushing the shield.

A layer of ice erupted over the shield, the unexpected weight causing the shield to fall out of it's curved path and embed itself into the wall.

Cap stared at his shield, his eyes widening at the ice now coating the shield.

"Who are you? What was that?"

The girl looked into his eyes, her grey eyes full of pain.

"I'm the Renegade. Those were abilities. A powered individual, according the S.H.I.E.L.D. files." She spoke quietly, before extending her hand toward Steve. "You have my apologies. Frozen twice in seventy years."

The pain overwhelmed his sense, the acute pain of a stab wound. Cap looked down at his chest, staring at the icicle that now intersected his midsection.

It didn't last long, as his skin was being coated in ice, the memories of being frozen so long ago flaring up again.

He was going to lose everything, again.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Bruce laughed at the Captain's response as he clicked off his comm. "Thor, you okay?"  
The Norse god was sitting on a pile of boxes, his head buried in his hands. His ever important hammer was on the ground next to him, the metal glittering the in the fading light.

However, his weaponry was not what had commanded Bruce's attention. Instead, it was the distressed expression that cloaked the Asgardian's face.

"Does it not strike you as odd, brother?" Thor spoke quietly, a rarity for the usually loud god.

Bruce refrained from pointing out the lack of relation between the two, and instead, focused on the question. "What do you mean?"  
"The lack of resistance in this base. For all of my time spent here on Midgard, we have never came upon a base with so little soldiers. Why was it so unprotected?"

Bruce had noticed that. While the Other Guy had destroyed the bas significantly, the body count had been suspiciously low, at least for a Hydra base, which was usually stocked to the teeth with soldiers, always heavily armed ones.

Shivering due to his lack of a shirt, Bruce considered the situation. "You're definitely right. I would look the stats of this base up, but Tony isn't here, and he's got the tech."

Thor stood, heading toward one of the windows. "You are cold, my friend?"

"Yeah, I could have sworn the weather report said it would be warmer here."

Thor touched the metal surrounding the glass window, before pulling his hand back, examining his fingers. "Blood. There's blood here." A frown came upon his face, as he glanced around the room.

The gamma radiation scientist hurried across the room, looking at what had caught the god's attention. "You're right. Someone definitely was injured here."

It was a line of blood, as if the injured person had been dragged across the floor, their blood leaking out onto the floor.

Following the trail of blood with his eyes, Bruce followed it to rather messy stack of boxes. Despite being labeled as fragile, they were haphazardly stacked, a messy pile, in danger of keeling over.

Both Bruce and Thor headed over the stack, were they carefully dismantled the stack.

Bruce opened one of the boxes, looking over the contents. "Hydra was storing important lab materials in this box. Microscopes, and things like that. They wouldn't have just tossed them here, not like this."

Thor wasn't paying much attention. Instead, he had started to pull down the stack of boxes. The boxes hit the ground loudly, the sound of glass shattering.

"Thor, be careful!" Bruce grabbed his arm, trying to stop him from dismantling the remainder of the tower. "You're going to get hur-"

From under the tower of boxes, a stack of bodies was awaiting the two Avengers. Most of the bodies had some sort of icicle spearing the body, creating a gruesome site. None of the bodies moved, confirming what Bruce had already thought. Blood seeped from their wounds, dripping onto the floor, creating what looked like an ocean of red.

Bruce glanced at the floor, his eyes tracking several swirls of ice, that appeared to coming from the floor.

"Thor, what's the room directly underneath us?"

The Asgardian frowned, rubbing his beard. "One of the storage rooms, I believe."

"Steve. Steve's in that room!"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This chapter has a Part Two, which will be released later this week.(hopefully!)**

 **Also, I saw Civil War! It was so good! No spoilers, I promise, but dang, the Russo brothers did it well!**

 **The Wanda and Vision ship is real :D**


	9. Chapter 9:The Death of a Star, Part 2

Chapter Nine: The Death of a Star, Part Two

* * *

Coulson's plane, complete with his team, landed at the Hydra base within the hour.

"Find the Avengers, and get medical attention to Captain America! Now!" Coulson ordered, as he and May headed toward the main building.

Inside, he was greeted by Clint and Natasha, who was holding her head.

Coulson, gauging the seriousness of her wound, asked the question that had been plaguing him since he had taken off for the base. "What happened here?"

Clint glanced up,his fingers curled into a fist. Coulson knew that look.

It meant the archer was out for blood. Coulson had seen it once before, when a Hydra agent had killed a little girl in front of Clint.

It took Coulson every single agent he had to stop Clint, and, even then, it hadn't worked. The image of the agent's body would haunt Coulson forever.

Clint, boldly ignoring the director's question, gestured to the assassin. "Natasha, she's hurt."

Natasha stepped forward, stumbling. "I'm fine." She moved to stand up straight, before her legs collapsed underneath her.

Clint moved forward, helping support the bleeding assassin.

"Medical, here now!" Coulson yelled, as he helped the master assassin into a chair.

"Barton, stay here. We'll find the advanced individual, but Romanoff needs you."

Clint nodded, as doctors surrounded the duo, checking for injuries.

"Coulson. Wait." The archer's tone was even and controlled, despite the pain Coulson could see in his blue eyes. Whomever hurt Natasha would have hell raining down upon them.

"Steve. He's in the basement. I don't know if he's okay."

The director nodded, his mind set on one goal. Save Captain America.

With the new information, Coulson ran deeper into the base, radioing messages to his team over his comm.

"We need to find and remove the Avengers from the situation. Now."

Simmons's voice popped up over the cmm. "But, why, sir? Wouldn't their assistance be needed to investigate the base?"

Coulson shook his head as he hurried down to the basement.

"One or more are definitely injured. Severity unknown. The rest are going to be a wreck. We don't need that."

Simmons responded immediately, her voice heavy with resignation. Clearly, she didn't agree with his decision, but, wisely, she wouldn't fight it.

"Okay, sir. We'll have the rest of the Avengers taken back to their tower. Both Hawkeye and the Black Widow are already on quinjets headed back. They're asking about the Captain. What should I tell them?"

Coulson headed down the flights of stairs, followed by twenty S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

"Tell them I'm enroute."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Bruce reached the storage room before the Norse god.

He was panting, as the the storage rooms could only be reached by two flights of incredibly steep stairs.

The scientist had badly underestimated how steep they were, and he had fallen down, scraping his left arm on the steps.

Thor had stopped, wishing for Bruce to seek medical attention, but the scientist had brushed him off.

"Steve is more important. He could be injured." Bruce had insisted.

Thor hadn't been satisfied. "But, my friend, you are also injur-"

Bruce had not waited until he was finished talking, instead, he had sprinted to down the corridor.

There were several rooms there, most of them with their doors open. It made sense, Steve had been checking the rooms for any Hydra stragglers.

Except for the last room. The door was partially closed, a spiral of ice near the door knob. More worryingly, a spot of red could be seen on top of the spiral.

The god joined Bruce in the hallway, staring at the door. "Do you think he is in there?"

Bruce nodded, a feeling of dread filling his stomach. "I'm sure he is."

Together, the duo had moved forward toward the door, Thor wielding his hammer, and Bruce, trying to rein in his anger. Turning into the Other Guy wouldn't help Steve at all.

Footsteps could be heard behind the two of them, and they whirled around, Thor recklessly throwing his hammer at the entrance to the hallway.

A man ducked from the hammer, throwing his hands up to cover his face.

"Watch it, Thor! I'm a good guy!"

It was Director Coulson, and Bruce visibly relaxed.

Coulson had a panicked expression on his face, and he gestured to the door. "What are you waiting for?"  
Bruce wasn't exactly sure, and a quick glance at Thor's face confirmed his suspicions.

They were scared. Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and they were too scared to open a door.

Director Coulson snapped out of it first, reaching for the ice covered doorknob. He swung the door open, and a gasp escaped his lips.

Steve was lying on the floor, coated lightly in ice, an icicle sticking out of his stomach. He'd been stabbed with it. The super soldier's blood stained the floor, the red liquid pooling around his body.

Coulson yelled over his comm as he ran to Steve's body, taking his pulse, his face a deadly pale. "MEDICAL. NOW! I need a team down here right now. "

Come to think of it, where was Coulson's agents? Bruce had assumed he would bring them with him, considering the Avengers had radioed in for help.

Coulson's eyes met his, and he spoke quietly, reading the message in Bruce's eyes. "I… I outran them down here. I was worried about Steve."

The ceiling above the trio shook, and a huge chunk of the material fell down, creating a hole in the ceiling.

Tony Stark looked down upon them, his gaze drifting over Steve's body. The hole evidently was big enough, and Tony flew through it, removing his faceplate.

"What…. What happened here?" Tony said desperately, as his suit disassembled.

By the fading glow of his repulsors, Bruce assumed Tony had cut a hole in the ceiling, too impatient to go down the stairs.

"Steve. He was attacked by the enhanced individual." Bruce said softly,his eyes drifting over Steve's body.

"... Does…. Does he have a pulse?" Tony's voice broke on the last words, voicing what all of the Avengers were thinking.

Coulson rose as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents filled the room.

"Yes. He does." Coulson acknowledged the doctors, as they loaded Steve's body onto a stretcher, carrying the Captain out of the basement.

Thor looked aghast, his eyes following Steve's body. "We must find this individual. For our Captain."

Tony nodded, firing up his suit. "We need backup." Raising his hand to stop Coulson's protests, he raised an eyebrow. "Flat out, we do, Director. Especially if Cap is going to be out of commission while he heals."

Coulson touched his earpiece, his eyes widening. "We got a hit on the advanced individual. I'm sending a team over. You guys figure out this situation ,and recruit this new member. Fast. "

Thor agreed, casually swinging his hammer around. "I agree, Man of Iron. We could use the help."

Bruce glanced up at his friend, wondering who on earth he was thinking of. "You have someone in mind?"

Tony smirked, pulling up a hologram of a red and blue clad vigilante.

"Spiderman. I found him. Let's recruit him

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

"Frozone. You know, I like that, kid."

Peter gaped at the man in front of him. Now wearing a fancy grey suit, genius Tony Stark was standing in front of him.

He looked a bit different in person, sure, but still, it was Tony freaking Stark! This man was one of Peter's idols, and here he was, acknowledging Peter's existence.

"Listen, kid, I have a proposal." Tony said quickly.

Peter was a bit skeptical. "Uh, for what?" Not that he didn't worship the ground Tony Stark walked on, but still. Why did he want anything to do with Spiderman? He had the Avengers, and they seemed to be doing a pretty good job of saving the world.

"I want to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative. Basically, we need a new member. So, Peter Parker, are you up to it?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **And with this chapter, all of our characters are now in the present. I jumped around a bit, but now, they're all in the same time.**

 **Sorry about the wait!**


	10. Chapter 10: Ever Been to Westchester?

Chapter Ten: Ever Been to Westchester?

 **Author's note:**

 **I'm really sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've been really busy with exams and school.**

 **My apologies, guys!**

 **Also, please check me out on instagram! ( _scarletwitch)**

 **I co-own the account with a friend of mine!**

* * *

Clint paced down the hospital hallway, his hands curled into fists.

Sitting in a chair to his left was Bruce. The scientist looked frazzled, his dark hair a mess.

"Has… has anything come in yet?" Clint asked, his eyes darting around nervously. "On the enhanced individual?"

Bruce set down the tablet he was looking at. From where Clint was sitting, it looked like Bruce was reading a medical file.

"You need to take a deep breath, and calm down, Clint. That's the third time you've asked me that in…" He trailed off, glancing at his watch. "Two minutes. You know, maybe you should try a crossword or something like that. What about a..."

It was true.

The former SHIELD agent was nervous. Really nervous.

The Avengers were at a low, and if anyone attacked right now, he doubted they'd be able to hold them off.

Natasha was in surgery for the injury she had sustained during the battle, Tony had left, in search of a new Avenger, and information on Steve's condition was on a need-to-know-basis, which, apparently, did not include his teammates.

Clint had yelled at the nurse who had informed him of this, but it was understandable. Letting the public know one of the Avengers had been mortally wounded would not bode well.

However, that didn't mean Clint wasn't still angry.

Clint's had snapped up, acknowledging the hand waving in front of his face.

Brown eyes met his blue ones, the gamma radiation scientist raising his eyebrows.

"Clint? Are you listening?...Yeah, I don't blame you. None of us can focus properly."

That was also true.

To the right of where Clint was sitting, there was a huge dent in the wall, courtesy of Thor. A nurse had asked him if he would like some coffee, and the god had reacted.

Loudly.

Thor had taken his leave after that, muttering something about how his skill set would be better used somewhere else.

Clint had let him go. Realistically, there was nothing any of the Avengers could do for Natasha or Steve. All they could do was wait.

And listen to Bruce talk. The archer was fairly sure he was still speaking, but he had filtered it to background noise.

"Clint, you know it's not your fault, right? If you had shot an arrow, Natasha would have sustained worse injuries. I know, blaming yourself is the easiest thing to do, but you're not allowed to do that. We need you, Clint, and if you're frazzled, the team will suffer." Bruce said quietly. "I don't know, but maybe try starting with changing? You…. look like a mess."

Clint glanced down, looking at his tattered uniform. The black vest had several rips, and his archery glove was stained red. It had been stupid to choose a silver one for the mission, but he had liked the colour.

He had no doubts about whose blood stained the glove.

Bruce was right.

Unsurprisingly. After all, the man was a genius.

He owed it to Natasha to find and take down the bastard who had injured his partner.

"Bruce, let's find Coulson. We need some extra help here."

Bruce nodded, as he buttoned the top of his shirt. "I hope you don't mean Spiderman. I don't think I'll be of any use there. Hulking out never seems to convince the recruits to join our cause."

Chuckling, the archer deposited his ruined glove in the trash can, as he strolled down the hospital hallway. "Nah, I've got someone else in mind. Ever been to Westchester?"

Shaking his head, the scientist stood, an understanding look floating over his face. "No. You can't be serious. They're not a joke? I mean, the footage was crazy. No way that's real."

"Bruce, you should know better than anyone that the craziest of things can happen to regular people."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Peter raised his eyebrows, his eyes darting around. There were only a few agents in his close vicinity, thankfully.

"Dude, can you not?" Peter asked. "My identity is sort of a secret."

Tony, slipped on a pair of glasses, adjusting his tie. "Not going to deny it? Suprising."  
Shrugging, Peter stood, pulling on the edge of his mask. "What's the point? You're a clever guy, and if you've figured out my identity, I doubt you're guessing."  
"You would be correct, Spider-Kid. I triangulated your location, used my tech to figure out your height and likely weight and body build, searched for the skill set I was looking for through the school system, and interviewed everyone I was suspicious of "for an internship". Stark Industries turns away nearly 90% of the applicants even before the interview stage, so I pulled a few strings and kept the kids I wanted to meet on the roster. It was simple from there. Pepper simply reported back to me, and I connected the dots." Tony said proudly.

"Clever. But what's your deal? And can we do it in a more private place? You might know my identity, but I'm not too keen on the "FBI" knowing it. Or, more accurately, S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tony frowned, pulling on his sleeves. "S.H.I.E.L.D. was dissolved. That's not them"

Chuckling, the vigilante perched on a bench, glancing down at his costume. "Yeah, dude, I'm not an idiot. Listen, these guys are most definitely S.H.I.E.L.D. I read those leaked files and everything. Besides, I got a visit from some of their agents a couple days ago."

"Some agents? Do you know who?"

"Hawkeye and the Black Widow. They tracked me to a rooftop." Peter responded, raising his eyebrows, even though he knew Tony couldn't see them. "Shouldn't you know that? You are, after all, Avengers and everything. Don't you guys live in Stark tower together?"

"The Avengers tower. We call it the Avengers tower." Tony muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets. "And no, they did not tell me that, because they're super secret agent buddies."

Laughing, Peter readied his web shooters. "Listen, Mr. Stark. You're awesome, and one of my idols, and you're really cool and all, but I don't think the Avengers are right for me."

Flashing a signature Tony Stark smiles, the billionaire smirked. "What if I told you the world was in danger?"  
"From what? A lack of communication on the Avengers team?" Peter shot back.

Becoming an Avenger was one of his dreams, but not under these circumstances. He wanted to set the terms, but he couldn't exactly do that now Tony Stark knew his identity.

"Not exactly. See, the world is facing a new danger. Enhanced individuals." Tony offered.

"So what?" Peter retorted. "I'm an enhanced individual! Am I your biggest danger?"

"Not exactly, kid. Recently, one of my old warehouses was robbed. No big deal, except the fact that these robbers had powers. Originally, I thought it was just one person with ice powers. The one you met."

"And you don't think that anymore? From what I saw, she's got strong enough powers to do that sort of thing." The vigilante remarked, as he gestured to the ice covered cement. "Have you seen her in action?"  
A dark look came upon Tony's face, and he spoke quietly. "No. I haven't. But she hurt one of my best friends. I'm not going to let that happen to anyone else. And she's not alone. I have evidence that she's working with others. It's not just one deranged, powered, teenager."

Noting the look of unease that Peter had donned, Tony continued. "Haven't you see what one teenager can do? The havoc one person can cause? All the people that die before they're stopped? Peter, we have a chance to stop these people before they hurt anyone else."

"Anyone else?" Peter piped up. Clearly, the kid was listening carefully.

"Captain America. He's been injured, just because he got in their way. You have a family, Peter. Your friends. They're all in danger, and they don't even know it yet."

Peter clenched his fingers into fists, before releasing them. "Fine. I'm in. But on my conditions."

"Now you're talking, kid."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Coulson pressed accept on his phone, holding the device up to his ear.

"Yes?... I see. He'll arrive when?... I'll get the conference room ready….Yeah, I'll send Stark a message. Thor is already here. He showed up a couple of hours ago.… What? You're in Westchester?... Oh, I get it. See you soon, Barton."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **That last conversation is a hint to who you can expect in the next chapter. :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Double Trouble

Chapter 11: Double Trouble

 **Author's note: Wow, 11 chapters! I wouldn't still be writing if it weren't for your guys' support. Thanks for being there with me.**

 **It's strange, because I can see a glimpse of the end of this story. I finally know how I'm going to end it.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Peter was uncomfortable in the fancy laboratory.

Very uncomfortable.

After his conversation with Stark, he'd swung back to house, changed into a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt, before heading out the door again, leaving a note on the kitchen table letting Aunt May know he'd be out pretty late.

No reason to make her worry. She had faced enough pain in the last few years, with Uncle Ben's death and all.

Peter owed it to her to make her life as easy as possible. Sure, being a superhero didn't exactly fit that bill, but, eh, what's life without a little risk?  
He could have sworn he'd read that somewhere.

It was sappy. Gwen liked sappy things just like that.

Just thinking of his amazing girlfriend brought a smile and a laugh to his face, something Tony Stark commented on.

"What's up, kid?" The billionaire said, as he fiddled with some technology, his shoulders hunched over the microscope. "Wowed by my awesomeness?"

Stark had brought Peter to the Avenger's tower, gestured over to an empty chair, presumably for Peter, and sat down at his lab station.

Every now and then he'd pull up a hologram, fiddle with it a bit, then return to his tools.

"Nothing, just thinking of my girlfriend." Peter replied, messing with his webshooters. It was a bad nervous tic he'd been unable to break. "And don't kid yourself for a minute, Stark. I'm here for my family and the fate of the world. I'm willing to swallow my pride to save the world. Are you?"

Standing up from his seat, Tony Stark looked like a man who was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"... Yes. I nearly lost one of my best friends, because I wasn't prepared. I couldn't help Steve last time. I'm not going to let that happen to anyone else I care about. Never again."

Peter held up his hands, raising his eyebrows. "Hey, I didn't ask for your whole life story. I just wanted to remind you that I'm not here for you, or because I believe in what S.H.I.E.L.D. does. Heck, I'm 17 years old. I can't even vote yet."

"17, huh. When I was 17, I didn't give a fuck about the world. You're already better than me, kid." Stark remarked with a laugh.

"Yeah, I don't know if that's really something you should be proud of," the vigilante muttered.

A voiced echoed over the lab. "I agree with Mr. Parker, Mr. Stark. You haven't eaten in three days."

Jumping to his feet, Peter readied his web shooters. "Who the hell was that?!"

Stark continued laughing, as he gestured to the ceiling. "That's JARVIS, my AI. He pipes in every now and then. Frankly, he's a bit annoying."

JARVIS responded smoothly. "Sir, you haven't slept in a week."

The billionaire waved him off, before returning his tablet. He tapped the screen, and across the room, his tech whirred to life.

Peter sighed, fidgeting with his web shooters.

Again.

Frankly, he was rather bored, and just wanted to go home.

Glancing down at the chair he was perched on, he came to the realisation that if he rocked it back and forth, he could entertain himself without disturbing Stark.

This continued for about ten minutes, until Stark turned around, facing Peter, who immediately stopped rocking back and forth.

Stepping forward, the man poised a question. "Hey, kid, I've been wondering. How on earth did you manage to escape our resident super secret spies?"

"Uh, I had help, you see, there's this superhero named D-"

Peter's statement was interrupted by a crashing sound as the young vigilante tumbled off his chair and onto the floor.

Peter's eyes were drawn to a smoking arrow embedded in the chair leg. His senses kicked in, and the vigilante realised what he was looking at.

"Watch out! It's gonna blow up!"

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

The car ride to Westchester had been a bit longer than Bruce had expected. It was about an hour long car ride, but Clint had driven uncharacteristically slowly.

Bruce didn't really mind. It had given him more time to read over a set of medical reports he'd received.

More specifically, Steve Rogers' medical reports.

It had taken a bit of hacking on the behalf of Tony Stark, but Bruce had finally gotten his hands on the reports.

It's not as if he was worried Steve would die. He was confident that Cap would recover quickly, especially with his accelerated healing. The wound, while still painful, was not fatal.

No, what concerned the gamma-radiation scientist was the the icicle Steve had been impaled on. Rather than simply creating a stab wound, the icicle had instead spread the ice into the veins, which Steve was still battling.

The Captain would survive the wound, but could he survive the ice traveling through his veins?

"I don't know, Bruce. I really don't." Clint said softly, his voice barely louder than the gentle symphony drifting from the speakers.

Bruce hadn't realised he'd spoken out loud.

He had also chosen the music. It might be only an hour long car ride, but he was feeling a bit on edge.

The more on edge he felt, the more likely the "Other Guy" was going to rear his ugly head.

As the car pulled up the to the fancy gate, a security camera gazed in their direction.

"Please state your name and business," a robotic voice droned.

Clint leaned out of the driver's window, holding up his S.H.I.E.L.D. ID.  
"I'm Clint Barton, with the Avengers. We're here to speak with, uh.." He hesitated, looking over at Bruce.

"Charles Xavier. We spoke to him on the phone," Bruce finished.

There was a brief moment of silence, before the gates swung open.

"Welcome Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Please enjoy your stay."

The car rolled forward, down the long, winding path.

Bruce was surprised by the number of students.

For a highly exclusive, extensive application only school, there were an incredibly large amount of students, ranging from around 8 years old to adults.

Their guide, a dark haired man donning a pair of red tinted glasses, led them to an empty room at the end of the hallway.

"Please, wait here. The Professor will be with you shortly," he requested, before letting the door slam behind him.

Clint's eye widened at the finely furnished room. "Damn, this guy is loaded. What does he do for a living?"  
"Teach, apparently. I wasn't aware he was still a professor here. Thought he retired." Bruce responded, as he surveyed the office.

Opposite from the doorway, several giant windows had taken the place of the wall.

The archery range was clearly visible, and several children gathered across from the targets. Strangely enough, while all the children were equipped with several arrows, none of them seemed to have bows. Even the instructor, a woman with fiery red hair, only held arrows in her right hand.

A voice interrupted his train of thought, pulling his attention away from the windows.

"Hello, and welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Students. My name is Charles Xavier, and this is my colleague Max Eisenhardt." A man in a wheelchair walked, no, rolled in, followed by another man, this one with a fedora pulled over his eyes.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Not even Peter's Spidey-Senses could help him against an exploding arrow.

Now, he wasn't totally sure this was an exploding arrow, but the red light blinking on the tip of the black arrow clued him in.

A man leapt through what was now a shattered window, grabbed the arrow, and promptly threw it outside.

"Legolas, what the fuck was that?" Stark yelled. He had dove for cover behind his work table, but now, the billionaire looked pissed.

The man, who Peter now realised was the man he had met on the rooftop many nights ago. What was his name again? Damnit. Peter couldn't remember.

"Sorry, about that, Stark. I panicked." The man responded, smirking. "Hey, kid. I'm Clint Barton."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Just to clarify, this is all happening at once. :D**

 **Next chapter should be up soon!**


	12. Chapter 12: As Dans Le Trou

Chapter 12: As Dans Le Trou

 **Author's note:**

 **Title translation: ace in the hole**

 **Uh, yes, this might be my favourite chapter. I got to write for one of my favourite characters!**

 **As well, just a general warning, information is going to be pulled from COMICS AND MOVIES.**

 **The information will be mashed together, so please, for any reason, if you need clarification, or would like to read the comic, watch the movie or episode from where I pulled the information, PM me! My inbox is always open!**

* * *

Tony Stark glared at his comrade and fellow Avenger.

"Legolas. What the hell was that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the archer.

Decked out in his full Avenger outfit, Clint Barton was a sight for sore eyes.

Shrugging, the archer laid down his bow on the table. "Sorry. like I said, I panicked. Thought this kid was some danger to you. I'm just on edge after Steve's attack."

Frowning, the billionaire poured himself a glass of alcohol. He really didn't care what it was, he just needed something to drink.

Tony offered a glass to the archer, who shook his head. Instead, the man turned toward the window, fiddling with his glove.

Something was off with the image before him, though.

Tony was fairly sure it was dark haired teenager, half lying on the floor, gaping at Barton.

Clint arched an eyebrow, before offering Peter his right hand. "Need a hand? Listen, I'm sorry I nearly blew you up."

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Peter said quietly. "It's just you're more intimidating in person. Well, we met before, but still."

"It's my job, kid." Clint responded, his trademark smirk flitting across his face.

"Actually, Merida, your job is to be an Avenger." Tony injected. "Where have you been? I thought you left with Banner."

"I was about to, before I got an idea. Needs you, though. Can you get me into the encrypted SHIELD files?" The archer requested, a pleading look masking his emotions.

Tony sighed, before grabbing a tablet. "Give me five minutes."

Clint nodded gratefully as he grabbed his bow, heading for the door. "Thanks. I'll be down in the archery range if you need me."

The billionaire's eyes followed the man as he left, walking into the elevator at the end of the hall.

"You know, he's really different when he's not threatening you atop a rooftop.." Peter mumbled, his dark hair falling into his eyes.

"No kidding." Tony responded.

He'd never admit it in front of his newest protege, but something was wrong with Clint Barton.

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

The Asgardian, having recently departed the Midgard hospital room, was concerned for the well being of his friends.

However, other than making holes in the walls, he wasn't much help here.

Heading out of the hospital, Thor made to leave to the Avengers' Tower, when he came to the cruel realization he had no idea where that was.

Or where he was.

The street in front of him

"Now, where could I find a horse?" Thor pondered out loud.

"I don't think you're in the right place for that, Thor," a silky voice responded.

Natasha Romanoff, in all of her redhead glory, was standing in front of the hospital building.

"Natasha!" Thor exclaimed, picking her up in a giant hug.

"Thanks, Thor, but please, put me down. I have stitches in my side. You're ripping them out." Natasha gasped, her breathing increasingly more labored.

"My apologies, fellow Avenger!" Thor released the assassin, who clutched at her side. "Speaking of the Avengers, do you have any idea how we get back to the Tower?"  
"Yeah, I know, but I have a better idea. Listen, I haven't really let anyone know that the hospital released me, and you just stormed out of there, right?"

"Yes…" Thor confirmed, not wanting to ask how she knew that.

"Well, I've been suspicious of this from the beginning. Come on, Thor, we've got investigating to do."

 _A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S- A-S-S-E-M-B-L-E_

Personally, though it wasn't his style to admit it, he had never liked petty squabbles among those with more power.

Hypocritical, he knew, since he was "gifted", too, but still.

He was simply a man on a mission, a man who was being compensated well for what he would do tonight.

Keeping this thought at the front of his mind, he slid down the roof, jumping at the last second.

Next to him, blue swirls brought down his companion, a dark haired young man with brilliant blue eyes.

"I told you I could have just teleported us in. Or even gotten us ran in. I know a guy. Speedster. Two, actually. One might hate me. But still," the other man muttered, fiddling with his dark gloves. "You know, this seems like a lot of unnecessary work."

Ignoring the complaints, the first man slipped silently around the corner. His hands reached into his pockets, wrapping his fingers around his favourite weapons.

It was almost comforting, to grip his arsenal, with what he was about to do.

Almost.

"Go", he whispered. "Now. De security system 'as been 'isabled."

"Are you sure he's not at home?" The gloved man asked nervously.

"Go, Wiccan. You are fine, mon ami." He responded firmly.

His companion glowed briefly, surrounded by a blue dome, before disappearing, and reappearing a minute later, surrounded by floating Iron Man suits.

Blue tendrils wrapped around the suits, lifting them off the ground.

Rough estimate, there was about a hundred suits.

More than enough.

Wiccan gestured his hands, and the two of them were surrounded what looked like a blue bubble.

Only seconds later, the two were in New York City.

Though he had never really spent time here, the city was impressive.

Nothing compared to New Orleans, though.

"It's up to you now, man." Wiccan said quietly, his face dark in the fading city light.

"Time to be findin' out just how much impact I can do, non?" The other man responded, pulling his hands out of his pockets.

As his hands extended, releasing several flaming playing cards, charged with buzzing kinetic energy, Gambit wondered if he'd made the right decision.

It was too late now, anyway.

The cards sailed, heading toward the strategically placed Iron Man suits.

The simple playing cards, imbued with as much power as he could handle, exploded upon collision with the suits.

The metal alloys reflected back the barely contained flames found on the playing card, creating what was a horrific, yet beautiful sight.

Still, raging Cajun did not turn away from the scene in front of him.

"Would'ya look at tha…"

His brown eyes traced the outline of the Avengers' Tower as it went up in flames.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Cliffhangers are fun, non?**

 **Also, I actually had to research how Gambit spoke, and what a Cajun accent sounded like, to write this chapter. Hope it turned out okay! Most of what I wrote in a "Cajun Accent" are things Gambit has really said, but I'm sorry if I offended anyone!**

 **Yes, Wiccan has brown eyes in the comics, but I couldn't resist giving him blue eyes.**


End file.
